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Don Saliers says, “In complicated times–politically, socially, economically–the yearning for some sign of promise and hope in the form of a new leader is still very much with us”. (FEASTING on the WORD, A1:76) It’s the Fourth Week of Advent, and churches are busier than ever. In the midst of this busy-ness, allow yourself to welcome this new leader in the form of the ChristChild. PEACE is more than good wishes on the cards we send to our friends.

ISAIAH 7:10-16 is often used as a proof-text for the coming of Jesus. As prescient as the Prophet was, he spoke to Ahaz about a regime-change which was to come. Including this confrontation in our Scriptures calls the hearer to question how God is inserting God’s-self into our own fears and inadequacies. What is it like to trust God in all these murky times? Where have you seen a sign of hope on your travels and in the news?

How does Paul greet the ROMANS in 1:1-7? With the announcement of Jesus as the Christ, the One who has given him the apostleship and impetus to nurture the Church, even in places he’s not yet visited. We still hold his words of praise and admonition as meaningful to our daily lives, encouraging us to view the Holy Child as God’s revelation of Good News in a troubled world. Some have understood this letter to be an invitation to a life of faith and hope, even as oligarchs and crooked politicians try to engulf us.

MATTHEW 1:18-25 introduces the Christmas story with the agony of Joseph, who was about to scrap the whole thing–but an angel appeared to him in a dream, telling him not only to accept the Child, but to name him Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins”. Do we still need a savior? Does our immersion in shiny things separate us from living in the Kingdom? What Christmas announces is One who will show us a different way. Can we trust Jesus enough to follow him?

This blog is full of questions, and maybe that’s appropriate for Advent. “Surely the culminating call of the Advent season is a call to renew our commitment to Christ and his purposes for us in and for the World.” (David J. Wood, op.cit. A 1:88) May Christmas increase your love and hope for Peace on Earth and Good Will to All.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Every Tuesday we examine the Scriptures to be read according to the Common Lectionary…Come join us at horacebrownking.com

One of my favorite commercials is for a phone company: a guy is walking down a rural road exclaiming how good the reception is even out there. The end of the shot has him saying, “I really don’t know where I am!” Lessons to be heard on this upcoming weekend–the third one in Advent–remind us that God knows where we are/who we are, even if we feel lost.

ISAIAH 35:1-10 looks forward to the restoration of God’s Kingdom, and advises wannabe pilgrims of the signs to look for: “…the desert will rejoice and blossom….waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert…” Even there–especially there–creation rejoices in God’s glory. Wholeness has become the norm, and the desolate shall be renewed. The Holy Covenant shall be honored again. God yet again has made a way where only brokenness has seemed to triumph.

JAMES 5:1-10 preaches patience. As the farmer waits for the rain to sprout his crops, so we also must wait for the good times of the Lord. Some of us feel as though we’re running out of time–so FIX it, already! Advent is the time when the Church announces yet again the hope that God is not yet finished. We wait on tiptoe.

MATTHEW 11:2-11 presents John the Baptizer again, this time in prison. He questions Jesus, “Are you really the Messiah?” Jesus offers him signs in John’s personal desert: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them…” Many are confused about who Jesus really is. It’s easier to hope for God to act when the sun is shining. The Advent always remembers John’s prison.

“The good news of Advent is ‘Look! Your God is coming!’….Obstacles will be removed and the covenant restored as people and the created order enter the sphere of salvation.” (Noel Leo Erskine, in FEASTING on the WORD, A 1:52,54) I dunno. It seems like I go to a lot of funerals of my friends, and I know that many families are separated. Some of us risk deportation, and microplastics are in our water. And God still makes a highway in the desert!

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

If anyone is there, please join us every Tuesday to be confronted by scriptures assigned to the upcoming weekend by the Common Lectionary; at horacebrownking.com

For me, it’s hard to find Jesus in a crowd. For sure, he’s not the dorky-looking guy in a striped sweater. Lessons to be read this weekend are about knowing that the Redeemer will come–but where? And how? We pew-sitters are reminded that we’re to expect God to re-enter our lives (despite the tinsel) and also to look actively for the signs of the Holy in our midst.

ISIAIAH 11:1-10 tells us that “a root will spring forth from the stump of Jesse”. When I pastored in Montrose, there was a huge cotton-wood tree growing in the property kitty-corner from the Parsonage. It was a DIIRTY tree: every midsummer would find bushels of “cotton” pouring down in the neighborhood. Finally, to everyone’s relief, the owners decided to take it down. But the next Spring, lines of shoots appeared in our neighbors’ yards, sprung from the roots still remaining in the ground. Even though David’s house had fallen into disrepair, says the prophet, be of good cheer! He will judge justly, and “the nations shall inquire of him…”

ROMANS 15:4-13 tells us about God’s steadfast love and our response to it. Despite our differences–the lion and the lamb–we’re to accept one another with open arms, seeing here the face of God in Christ. The Advent message, then, is to begin again with others (and ourselves) even as we peer into the manger.

John the Baptizer is a strange dude. Here in MATTHEW 3:1-12 we meet him in the wilderness, Where the Wild Things Are. Where the Christmas lights are not. To me, his baptism ministry is secondary to his preachment that the Chosen of God is near, that “his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary” and will burn the leftovers. It’s a warning to those who think their lives are righteous that God’s expectations demand both confession and renewal.

Thomas Merton has said, “The Advent mystery is the beginning of the end of all that is in us that is not of Christ”. In this Holy Season, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Every Tuesday in Advent and throughout the year, we meet here to be touched by God through scriptures to be heard on the upcoming weekend. Come join us!

“Are you ready for Christmas?” Well, if you mean sending all my cards and trimming the tree, shopping and hanging my stockings with care… NO, NO, NO! Are we ready for the Christ Child to enter our lives, should be the question! This upcoming weekend is the first of Advent: readings to be heard deal with our preparation for God to do Something New, to restore the dream of perfection where it has been covered by trinkets and busyness…

ISAIAH 2:1-5 is the Prophet’s vision of the days to come: the Temple will be lifted up for all to access, and the Law it proclaims will be universal. He anticipates that the Word of God will be revealed, and that all nations shall make pilgrimage there to receive it. And once having received this Word, Peace will break out, nations turning their swords into plowshares. And a word to the laissie-faire citizens around him, “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”

Paul’s Letter to the ROMANS, 13:11-14, indicates that the Church should be more than ready to receive Jesus: “…now is the moment for you to wake from sleep….the night is far gone, the day is near.” He calls the Church then and now to glimpse the majesty of God in this Christ Child and to announce through our actions that we, too, have caught God’s dream. (What is your current project of mission to reflect this peace to those yet to hear?)

MATTHEW 24:35-44 is far from jolly, for it warns Believers that the Day of the Lord will happen suddenly. The Jesus Matthew presents is hardly interested in the Incarnation (obviously, this has already happened in him). So will the Day of the Lord be glorious or scary? Don’t sell all your stuff and go up on a mountain to await Jesus’ coming, because no one knows when the world will end. But do be ready to greet Jesus with styles of mercy and worship.

And so we plug along towards yet another Christmas. Yes, I’m gonna do the things I mentioned, and spend too much money. But in the back of all these preparations is the awareness that God is intending to come into our midst. Again.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Each Tuesday we unpack the goodies of scripture designed to be read on the upcoming weekend. Come join us, and bring a friend: to horacebrownking.com

Who’s in charge, here? Scripture to be read on the upcoming weekend reminds the hearers that God is still the Big Guy, whatever we call God. Not the so-called president, not the Court system, not even our elected dog-catchers. This is a call to an alternative life-style: while appreciating all our toys, we’re not really supposed to worship them! Our lives are littered with vain attempts to be relevant, to be in tune with the times, to be beautiful. We pew-sitters are told that God is still in charge, no matter what….

We begin with JEREMIAH 23:1-6, the Prophet’s condemnation of the existing “false shepherds” (those appointed by humans), and a promise that God will raise up a Righteous Branch (Jesus?) to do it correctly. Here is an alternative to business-as-usual: in the New Kingdom, the Old Ways of discrimination and power will be overthrown and the power-less will get equal treatment. How shall we live as God’s People?

COLOSSIANS 1:11-20 is Paul’s reminder to the Church that God’s Power is both sufficient and redeeming: “in (Christ) all things in heaven and on earth were created…whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers…” Can we add those poor in goods, those sleeping under bridges, those hanging around the head-shops? Just as the conquerors in antiquity would move the conquered people to their own land (see the Babylonian Exile), so has the Christ transferred us into a new (and better, more peaceful) Kingdom. Wanna come?

It may seem strange to read about the Crucifixion, LUKE 23:33-43, on the day in which we celebrate the Reign of Christ. But pay attention to the sign: “This is the King of the Jews”. All are called to understand that this Kingship overrides any kings or power brokers or wreckers of the White House who may briefly appear. In this Kingdom the rules are different, each person is appreciated for whomever they are.

“The reign of Christ is the reign of peace. The perennial question for the church is, how do we live faithfully under this reign?” (Mary Eleanor Johns, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:29) I won’t say the Pledge of Allegiance: my allegiance is only to God’s Kingdom. I vote. I pay taxes. But I’m trying to be faithful to my Baptismal vows, to let Christ reign in my life. Now, can I meet God’s children as persons of worth?

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join us each Tuesday to be confronted by scriptures assigned by the Revised Common Lectionary to the upcoming weekend; at horacebrownking.com

Lessons for the upcoming weekend are intended to remind the Christian to Hope. They include stories of weariness in waiting for God’s Kingdom to unfold, stories of impatience and a promise that things won’t be easy for the practicing Disciple. This is good for me to remember, because I’m often cynical about the corruption in government and the misuse of power. Will things eventually get better? Someday…

Third ISAIAH 61: 17-25 dreams of the restoration of the Jewish people with the instruction, “Be glad and rejoice forever in what I am doing”, says the Lord. Even in our bleak hours, even with a people who have generally ignored God, the Prophet can speak of a Divine Wholeness. In this new creation the tawdry have been capsized and a whole new fabric of life has been woven. Our sinfulness has been overturned by a loving, hopeful God.

It’s much too easy to read an ethic of hard work into II THESSALONIANS 3:6-13. This passage doesn’t negate the commandment to care for those down-and-out, but it does exhort everyone to do what they do best. The concluding verse is the best: “Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.” What is “right”? The imitation of Jesus and the fulfillment of the Gospel. WWJD? The exhortation is not just about individual exercise, but calls the whole community, the whole church into activity. I know that I feel more a part of things when I’m given something to do…

The Gospel, LUKE 21:15-19, is Jesus’ warning to his followers that the End hasn’t come, but they themselves will find the going tough. There’re always wars and earthquakes, famines and plagues; those who read the heavens will announce that the End is Near…but the followers of Christ will have their own crises and betrayals.

So I guess that the message is that you and I need to keep on doing what we do best. I do get discouraged watching MSNBC, and ask God what’s next. But disciples in every age and generation have had their involvement informed by Hope… As we look to the future Kingdom, we wait patiently(?) for God to direct history. God Will Take Care of You.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Come join us each Tuesday as we struggle with the scriptural presentations of the Revised Common Lectionary; at horacebrownking.com

Ahh, everything’s screwed up. Why should I care? Let others build their own skyscrapers; the White House is in shambles… But I have a GreenPeace sticker on my desk which reads, “Resist the Doom: Rainbows Bloom!” Scriptures to be read on the upcoming weekend affirm the positive, encourage us pew-sitters to get up and improve the picture. In these days of corruption and authoritarianism, we need these ancient words to defeat our modern-day malaise.

HAGGAI 2:1-9 was written to the recently released captives from Babylon, encouraging them to build another Temple on the ruins of the one destroyed. The Temple wasn’t merely a nice place to worship, it was a civic-center and a symbol of the Jewish Nation. Some who heard were the old folks who remembered the splendor of the Old Temple, and said, “We’ll never get that back.” Others were the new generation who only heard stories of the Old Temple, and were more interested in their own fields and flocks. Haggai not only wanted the building restored, but also the sense of the family of YHWH. “Take courage…I am with you, says the Lord of hosts….”

II THESSALONIANS 2:1-5, 13-17d is purportedly written by Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome, awaiting execution. He urges the Christians not to give in to the glitz of the world, or even to expect that the Day of the Lord has come. They and we are urged to wait creatively, accomplishing godly work through faith, and not yielding to the Devil of the Noonday Sun. The promise is that Evil shall be put down, eventually, and that the sky won’t fall today.

During Holy Week, various hair-splitters came to test Jesus. LUKE 20;27-28 is one of these occasions: some Sadducees, who don’t believe in resurrection (that’s why they’re sad, you see!) asked Jesus about seven brothers who, according to Jewish law, married Typhoid Mary to get sons. “So in the resurrection, whose wife is she?” Jesus replied that marriage is an earthly standard, and in heaven there are no marriages. (What? I won’t dance with my wife? But we have a gravestone saying “Forever”!) Jesus expects that folks won’t worry about this stuff, and get to work building the “Temple”, a Kingdom of God here on earth… The Sadducees spoke of Death, Jesus speaks of Life.

When I was in tenth grade, our church burned down. Here’s where I sang in the Jr. choir, where I was confirmed, where my buddies mostly attended. The only thing salvageable were the cups and plates. For several years, we worshiped in the high school. But in a few years, a new church was built on the space of the old one. Some said, “it’s not the same”; but the rest of us were overjoyed! Somebody had a vision, and the courage to keep on. “The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord.”

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Bring a friend to be touched by scripture scheduled by the Revised Common Lectionary to be read on the upcoming weekend; at horacebrownking.com

I take great comfort in the readings to be heard on the upcoming weekend. A cynic by nature, I’m prone to believe that all is lost, that the country/world is in too corrupt a state to recover. But other Peoples have lived in dangerous times, and (by God) somehow survived. These scripture lessons contrast the Way of the World with God’s Kingdom, acknowledging the mistakes yet looking forward to their acclimation. God still loves us, I guess…

We don’t know much about the prophet Habakkuk–where he lived, what else he did, or even his dates. But he wrote at a time of desperation, probably during the reign of King Jehoakim, whose tenure was marked with a wanton disregard of Jewish Law. Besides, the Babylonians-Chaldeans were encamped around Jerusalem. Things were TOUGH. Yet in HABAKKUK 2:1-4 he says, “Be a watchman. Wait.” To which God responds, “If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay”. What do we do when the violent and wicked seem to be winning? “Why didn’t the other dogs continue the chase? They had not seen the rabbit.” (Edward Hays, as quoted by Pamela Cooper-Wright in FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:244)

Who wrote II THESSALONIANS 1:1-4–and does it matter? SOMEone on Paul’s team tells the Church there in Thessalonica that they’re doing OK, giving us a model for an alternate community to a culture driven by consumption and authoritarianism. As we orient our compasses to God’s loving way we are blessed with grace and peace. Will we withstand the fury of the world?

LUKE 19:1-10 introduces us to Zacchaeus, as we remember the kid’s song about the wee man who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus. I always liked the story, since I myself lack much stature. But the point is, that Jesus accepted this awful chief tax collector and even went to his house to eat! Who have we dissed because of who they are–or maybe who they aren’t? The extravagance of the Christ extends to the least and the lowest, doesn’t it? Is there anyone up a tree in your neighborhood?

Every Wednesday and Sunday I charge my electric car at the municipal parking lot, and walk to the Church. I pass by a smoke-shop where various street-people hang out. I always smile at them–but I rarely invite them to join me at worship. Want a job? Want to talk about the Vision? Why not spend an hour or two some morning telling these folks about Jesus, GOD’s Vision??

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

We’ve chosen to talk together about scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend by the Revised Standard Lectionary; come join us every Tuesday at horacebrownking.com

Richard Rohr has written, “God does not love any of us because we are good. God loves us because GOD is good.” (THE TEARS OF THINGS, Convergent Books, New York: page 94) Scripture passages to be heard this upcoming weekend explore and contrast the restlessness of the People with actual pursuit of righteousness. It’s not what you may think…

JOEL 2: 23-32 is given in the context of great calamity and drought. Yet the prophet tells his community that God still loves them, and will confirm this by the gift of God’s Spirit. To ALL, not just those who “deserve” it. Actually, none of us “deserve” seeing the Spirit of God: Joel’s people all turned away from Godly living, and were looking out for themselves. Will God still pour out this Spirit today? Will our toys stop us from seeing it?

TIMOTHY has been preaching the Godly life, but he’s scared. Nothing but bad happens to him. His mentor, someone writing in the spirit of Paul, encourages him to continue to exert himself just as this mentor has “poured himself out” that the thirsty may be helped. Even (II, 4:6-8) though the people may be looking death in the face, “the Lord, the righteous judge, will give” the crown to the faithful, those who persevere in faith and loving mercies.

LUKE 18:9-14 is Jesus’ parable of the two men in the Temple. One is a self-appreciative Pharisee, who congratulates himself on fasting and giving TWICE what’s expected–and is not like that awful tax-collector over there. The tax-collector, who has probably screwed over his clientele, says nothing except “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”. Jesus says that this guy is forgiven in God’s eyes, and the self-righteous Pharisee hasn’t a clue about how the Kingdom of God operates.

So, do we know our failings and our blasphemies? Do we think we’re doing good by adhering to tradition? Do we recognize the difference between being forgiven and blundering on without thought? God is God–and we’re not.

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Come bring a friend on Tuesday and we’ll examine the Scripture that examines us; readings for the upcoming weekend, courtesy of the Revised Standard Lectionary at horacebrownking.com

Admittedly, things go wrong. It wasn’t easy for the Babylonian exiles, and it’s not for us, either. The scriptural message seems to be, “Hang in there: things won’t always be so uncertain”. Readings to be explored this upcoming weekend tell us that God is still in charge, no matter how dicey things around us get to be. Calling on God from the Path of Unseeing is a matter of HOPE–there is no proof that things will be better, but we affirm that they will…

JEREMIAH 31:27-34 is a message of this Hope, a renewal of our inner being, our heart. We shall all know God, for the covenant is written within us. Some of us desperately cringe in our pews, thinking that it’s too late. It isn’t. The amazing thing is that God has initiated this newness–of attitude, of behavior–and that we can’t escape Divine Mercy. “The days are coming…” means that the future isn’t just ANY future, “It is a future of hope and meaning, brimming with promise”. (Donald W. Musser, FEASTING on the WORD, C 4:170)

We don’t know what TIMOTHY was up against, in his ministry. Most of the world around him was running after strange gods, which sounds familiar. We do know that someone (Paul?) has been his mentor, and is sharing words of encouragement in II 3:14-4:5. “Hang in There! Keep on Keeping On! And don’t forget the covenant God has written on your heart…Yes, yours!” Those trying to escape the Gospel, or at least to take a vacation from it, are yanked back: Timothy and you and I are urged to be persistent, just as God is persistent.

Most of us are a bit puzzled by Jesus’ strange story about the unjust judge, LUKE 18:1-8. This is a parable, not an analogy: the unjust judge isn’t God. However, we ARE told to pray “without ceasing”, not to wear God down, but to soldiify the process within ourselves. “Praying means hopeful trusting in God, not in ourselves.” (Margit Ernst-Habib, ibid. 190) Having hope indicates that we don’t lose heart.

Thus we’re invited to either bask in God’s glory–or to realize that we need to pray more. We also recognize that we’re in a secular society which has many gods, many toys. So we are glad for each day, whether it goes well or badly. Remember the roots of your faith, knowing that God will watch over you and ALL that is around you…

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Come join the conversation about lessons to be heard on the upcoming weekend; every Tuesday at horacebrownking.com